November 30, 2015
English and History Education Students Attend Retreat
Students and faculty from the English Education (ENED) and History Education (HIED) programs in the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education, and History Education participated in a senior I methods retreat November 20-21 at the Pocosin Arts Riverside Lodge in Columbia, NC. More than two dozen undergraduate, licensure only, and Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) students across the two program areas engaged in the two-day retreat that included team building, reflective teaching, and professional development activities. In his opening remarks at the retreat Dr. Todd Finley, associate professor and senior I methods instructor for ENED commented, “This is our attempt to create a small college feel within a larger university campus. We want you to engage in an intimate experience that will help you feel connected and supported as you move into senior II.”
With the perfect setting alongside the picturesque Scuppernong River, students began the retreat on Friday evening with a “boundary breaking” activity that was aimed at helping students connect and become comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas with classmates and colleagues from another program area. After S’mores by the campfire, students socialized with one another and then prepared lessons, videos, and assessments to be shared the next day. On Saturday, students formed into interdisciplinary Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and, through a structured protocol, shared, analyzed, evaluated and discussed each other’s teaching of lessons they had delivered in their senior I internship. Reflective and supportive conversations resulted where students discussed teaching strengths and areas for improvement. One HIED student commented about the PLCs, “When watching my videos alone, I felt like my videos were horrible. It was good to get reassurance from my peers. It was also helpful to see the teaching styles of others, and I saw some things that I could add to my own teaching style.”
This PLC experience was followed in the afternoon by an “Unconference” – an interactive, self-guided professional development activity that arose from perceived areas for growth, development, and expertise based on the PLC discussion. Potential Unconference topics were identified and voted on and students then chose a session to attend based on the feedback they had received during their PLCs. One ENED student commented that a benefit of the Unconference was, “Being able to talk through education problems to solve them versus being told the solution really helped build my confidence as a future educator.” Before closing the retreat, students were required to develop an action plan for addressing perceived areas for growth prior to the senior II internship.
Short social-emotional learning games occurred throughout the day to help the interdisciplinary teams learn ways to energize and increase the academic achievement of their future students.
Overall, students and methods faculty found the retreat to be a positive educational experience. One student wrote, “Thank you for hosting the Pocosin Retreat! It was so much fun and educational and I made memories that will last a lifetime.”
In an anonymous post-retreat survey, 100% of the 25 students who attended indicated that the retreat was helpful in building a professional support network for the senior II internship.
Dr. Allen Guidry, associate professor and methods instructor for HIED commented, “The retreat tapped into students’ inherent creativity and reflection and engaged them in becoming leaders and problem solvers in their own professional development. They entered the retreat with uncertainty and areas for growth. They left the retreat with confidence and a plan of action.”